C. FORCE, HIGHT LEAD JFR INTO RACEDAY AT GATORNATIONALS
GAINESVILLE, FL – Mother Nature cooperated with the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series and in spite of a dire forecast all the pro classes were able to make four qualifying runs in advance of the 47th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals. The final two sessions today were delayed but once the race cars took to the track Courtney Force and Robert Hight made strong efforts to put themselves in contention for victory as the No. 2 and No. 3 qualifiers, respectively. Seven-time Gatornationals winner John Force will go into race day as the No. 9 qualifier and Brittany Force will have her best starting position, No. 5 in Top Fuel.
Courtney Force clocked a career-best 3.893 ET today to close out qualifying at the Gatornationals and put her in the No. 2 position going into the third race day of the 2016 season. The Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car driver will line up beside Dave Richards for only the second time in her career.
“Our team has definitely been on a roll lately getting this car down the race track, making impressive runs and making consistent runs. We made it through the rain and got in all of our qualifying passes this weekend,” said Force.
“We ended up in the No. 2 spot and ran our career-best with a 3.89 and we did it with a hole out. I felt like I was driving that car all over the place, but I had to do whatever I could to just get it down to the other end and I’m glad that I did. It was a great run even with that problem, but it definitely gets me motivated for race day tomorrow. The fact that we can run a number like that with the car not even at 100% makes me feel great about tomorrow. I just hope we can continue to do what we have been, improve and learn from each pass and go rounds tomorrow on race day,” added Force.
The last time Force matched up with Dave Richards was in the first round at Epping in 2014. Force came out victorious. This is Force’s best starting position at the famed Gatornationals. In 2014 she raced to the semi-finals as the No. 5 qualifier before losing to John Force.
Two-time Gatornationals winner Robert Hight is heading into race day hoping for the sun to come out and bring some of the Florida heat to Gainesville Raceway. His Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car is hands down the quickest Funny Car in the heat posting the quickest ETs in both of the early sessions on Friday and today. Hight’s team has not capitalized on the cooler temps during the night sessions.
“We screwed up the two night sessions and we were hoping to run 3.8s both nights. This Auto Club Chevrolet is plenty capable of doing that. We are running 3.92 in the heat,” said Hight at the end of the day. “It is a real handful right now. It is carrying the front end but these guys will fix that. If the conditions are good in the morning I believe we’ll run in the 3.80s. If the sun is out and it is hot this is the fastest car out here in the heat.”
In 2012 Hight raced to his first Gatornationals victory from the No. 3 position. Two years later Hight outran John Force in the final to pick up his second Gatornationals win. The 2009 Funny Car champion will be looking to join Kenny Bernstein, Gordie Bonin and Ron Capps as a three time winner with four round wins tomorrow.
“I have a lot of confidence. I am ready for race day and we’ll get these problems fixed. When you win one of these events you have to earn it. It is not going to be easy racing but I feel good about racing anyone on my side of the ladder,” said Hight.
Hight will face Terry Haddock in the first round for just the second time in his career. They previously met in the first round of the 2012 Las Vegas spring national event. Hight got the round win and went on to win that event.
The success of Hight and Courtney Force will carry over to the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Funny Car team on Sunday. John Force’s Chevrolet Camaro Funny Car had a tough two days of qualifying and it took all the driving talent of 143-time winner John Force to narrowly miss qualifying in the top half of the field. Force will go into race day as the No. 9 Funny Car and it will be only the sixth time since 1981 that Force won’t start the Gatornationals with lane choice.
“I know how to race here. I know this race track really well. I didn’t make a full pull this weekend but I am confident we’ll get this figured out for tomorrow.”
The winningest driver in NHRA history will rely on the strength and depth of his teams to give him the best chance of victory over reigning Funny Car champion Del Worsham in the first round.
“Courtney stepping up and running that 3.89 was huge. We were so consistent in Phoenix and now we are struggling a little here. It’s not the driver or the crew chief but there is something going on and we are going to find it. We made some changes after Phoenix and I think we are going to switch back,” said Force.
This is the second time Force has qualified No. 9 at the Gatornationals. In 1984 he raced to the quarter-finals. The last time Force started the Gatornationals from the bottom half of the field was two years ago when he raced to the final round from the No. 16 position.
The Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster will head into Sunday with their best Gatornationals starting position and continued momentum from strong qualifying runs. Force was provisional No. 1 qualifier on Friday and took advantage of her lofty position to aggressively attack the track. At the end of the day she slipped to No. 5 but has a lot of confidence that her team knows the limits of the race track.
“It feels really good knowing that I have a consistent race car. I feel really confident since we have made so many quality runs. I don’t have to worry about going up to the starting line thinking about how this Monster Energy dragster is going to run. I know it is going to go right down the track,” said Force, a seven-time Top Fuel finalist.
Force will face Morgan Lucas in the first round at Gainesville Raceway.
“I am excited to be out here at the Gatornationals. I came here as a kid and this is a huge race on our circuit. You can tell by looking in the grandstands. It is a packed race. I think we are off to a great start. We made some great runs yesterday and we struggled a little today but we are still No. 5 which is pretty good. We have Morgan Lucas in the first round and that Lucas Oil dragster will be tough. We’ll take it one step at a time.”